---
title: fred_browse
description: Navigate FRED's complete catalog through categories, releases, and sources
icon: 'folder-tree'
---
# fred_browse
Browse and navigate through FRED's hierarchical catalog structure to discover available economic data series.
## Overview
The `fred_browse` tool provides systematic navigation through FRED's extensive catalog of over 800,000 economic time series. Use it to:
- Explore economic categories and subcategories
- Browse data releases from various sources
- List all series within a specific category or release
- Discover data sources and their available series
## Parameters
<ParamField path="browse_type" type="string" required>
Type of browsing operation to perform.
**Options:**
- `categories`: Browse category tree
- `releases`: List data releases
- `sources`: List data sources
- `category_series`: Get all series in a category
- `release_series`: Get all series in a release
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="category_id" type="number">
Category ID for browsing subcategories or series.
**Required when:**
- `browse_type` is `category_series`
**Optional when:**
- `browse_type` is `categories` (omit to get root categories)
**Common IDs:**
- `32991`: Money, Banking & Finance
- `10`: Population, Employment & Labor Markets
- `1`: Production & Business Activity
- `32992`: Prices
- `3008`: U.S. Regional Data
- `32264`: International Data
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="release_id" type="number">
Release ID for browsing series within a release.
**Required when:**
- `browse_type` is `release_series`
**Popular Release IDs:**
- `53`: GDP
- `50`: Employment Situation
- `10`: Consumer Price Index
- `15`: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization
- `18`: Federal Reserve Economic Data
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="limit" type="number" default="50">
Maximum number of results to return (1-1000).
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="offset" type="number" default="0">
Number of results to skip for pagination.
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="order_by" type="string">
Field to order results by.
**Options vary by browse_type:**
- Categories: `name`, `series_count`
- Series: `series_id`, `title`, `popularity`, `last_updated`
- Releases: `name`, `release_id`, `press_release`
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="sort_order" type="string" default="asc">
Sort order for results.
**Options:**
- `asc`: Ascending order
- `desc`: Descending order
</ParamField>
## Examples
### Browse Root Categories
<CodeGroup>
```json Request
{
"tool": "fred_browse",
"params": {
"browse_type": "categories"
}
}
```
```json Response
{
"categories": [
{
"id": 32991,
"name": "Money, Banking, & Finance",
"parent_id": 0,
"series_count": 48000
},
{
"id": 10,
"name": "Population, Employment, & Labor Markets",
"parent_id": 0,
"series_count": 84000
},
{
"id": 1,
"name": "Production & Business Activity",
"parent_id": 0,
"series_count": 52000
}
],
"metadata": {
"count": 8,
"total": 8
}
}
```
</CodeGroup>
### Browse Subcategories
<CodeGroup>
```json Request
{
"tool": "fred_browse",
"params": {
"browse_type": "categories",
"category_id": 32991
}
}
```
```json Response
{
"categories": [
{
"id": 22,
"name": "Interest Rates",
"parent_id": 32991,
"series_count": 12000
},
{
"id": 24,
"name": "Exchange Rates",
"parent_id": 32991,
"series_count": 3500
},
{
"id": 46,
"name": "Banking",
"parent_id": 32991,
"series_count": 8000
}
]
}
```
</CodeGroup>
### Get Series in a Category
<CodeGroup>
```json Request
{
"tool": "fred_browse",
"params": {
"browse_type": "category_series",
"category_id": 22,
"limit": 5,
"order_by": "popularity",
"sort_order": "desc"
}
}
```
```json Response
{
"series": [
{
"id": "DGS10",
"title": "Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 10-Year Constant Maturity",
"observation_start": "1962-01-02",
"observation_end": "2024-12-31",
"frequency": "Daily",
"units": "Percent",
"seasonal_adjustment": "Not Seasonally Adjusted",
"popularity": 95
},
{
"id": "DFF",
"title": "Federal Funds Effective Rate",
"observation_start": "1954-07-01",
"observation_end": "2024-12-31",
"frequency": "Daily",
"units": "Percent",
"seasonal_adjustment": "Not Seasonally Adjusted",
"popularity": 93
}
],
"metadata": {
"count": 5,
"offset": 0,
"limit": 5,
"total": 12000
}
}
```
</CodeGroup>
### Browse Data Releases
<CodeGroup>
```json Request
{
"tool": "fred_browse",
"params": {
"browse_type": "releases",
"limit": 10,
"order_by": "name"
}
}
```
```json Response
{
"releases": [
{
"id": 10,
"name": "Consumer Price Index",
"press_release": true,
"link": "https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm",
"source": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics"
},
{
"id": 50,
"name": "Employment Situation",
"press_release": true,
"link": "https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm",
"source": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics"
},
{
"id": 53,
"name": "Gross Domestic Product",
"press_release": true,
"link": "https://www.bea.gov/news/current-releases",
"source": "U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis"
}
],
"metadata": {
"count": 10,
"total": 300
}
}
```
</CodeGroup>
### Browse Data Sources
<CodeGroup>
```json Request
{
"tool": "fred_browse",
"params": {
"browse_type": "sources",
"limit": 5
}
}
```
```json Response
{
"sources": [
{
"id": 1,
"name": "Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US)",
"link": "https://www.federalreserve.gov/",
"series_count": 45000
},
{
"id": 2,
"name": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics",
"link": "https://www.bls.gov/",
"series_count": 75000
},
{
"id": 3,
"name": "U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis",
"link": "https://www.bea.gov/",
"series_count": 35000
}
],
"metadata": {
"count": 5,
"total": 89
}
}
```
</CodeGroup>
## Navigation Strategies
### Hierarchical Exploration
<Steps>
<Step title="Start with Root Categories">
```json
{
"browse_type": "categories"
}
```
</Step>
<Step title="Drill Down to Subcategories">
```json
{
"browse_type": "categories",
"category_id": 32991
}
```
</Step>
<Step title="List Series in Category">
```json
{
"browse_type": "category_series",
"category_id": 22,
"order_by": "popularity"
}
```
</Step>
<Step title="Retrieve Specific Series">
Use `fred_get_series` with the discovered series ID
</Step>
</Steps>
### Release-Based Discovery
<Steps>
<Step title="List All Releases">
```json
{
"browse_type": "releases",
"order_by": "name"
}
```
</Step>
<Step title="Get Series in Release">
```json
{
"browse_type": "release_series",
"release_id": 10
}
```
</Step>
<Step title="Filter and Retrieve">
Use series IDs with `fred_get_series`
</Step>
</Steps>
## Common Use Cases
### Finding Interest Rate Data
```json
// Step 1: Navigate to Money & Banking
{
"browse_type": "categories",
"category_id": 32991
}
// Step 2: Find Interest Rates category (ID: 22)
{
"browse_type": "category_series",
"category_id": 22,
"order_by": "popularity",
"limit": 20
}
```
### Exploring Regional Data
```json
// Step 1: Go to U.S. Regional Data
{
"browse_type": "categories",
"category_id": 3008
}
// Step 2: Browse states
{
"browse_type": "categories",
"category_id": 27281 // States category
}
// Step 3: Get California data
{
"browse_type": "category_series",
"category_id": 27286 // California
}
```
### Finding Latest Economic Releases
```json
// Get recent releases
{
"browse_type": "releases",
"order_by": "release_id",
"sort_order": "desc",
"limit": 10
}
```
## Category Reference
### Top-Level Categories
| ID | Name | Description | Series Count |
|----|------|-------------|--------------|
| 32991 | Money, Banking & Finance | Financial markets, interest rates, exchange rates | ~48,000 |
| 10 | Population, Employment & Labor Markets | Jobs, unemployment, demographics | ~84,000 |
| 1 | Production & Business Activity | GDP, industrial production, business indicators | ~52,000 |
| 32992 | Prices | Inflation, CPI, PPI, commodity prices | ~32,000 |
| 3008 | U.S. Regional Data | State and metro area statistics | ~350,000 |
| 32264 | International Data | Global economic indicators | ~150,000 |
| 32263 | Academic Data | Research datasets from universities | ~15,000 |
### Popular Subcategories
| Parent | ID | Name | Key Series |
|--------|-----|------|------------|
| 32991 | 22 | Interest Rates | DFF, DGS10, DGS2, TB3MS |
| 32991 | 24 | Exchange Rates | DEXUSEU, DEXJPUS, DEXCHUS |
| 10 | 12 | Unemployment Rate | UNRATE, U6RATE, CIVPART |
| 1 | 18 | GDP | GDP, GDPC1, GDPPOT |
| 32992 | 9 | Consumer Price Indexes | CPIAUCSL, CPILFESL |
## Error Handling
### Common Errors
| Error | Cause | Solution |
|-------|-------|----------|
| `Invalid browse_type` | Unknown browse_type value | Use one of: categories, releases, sources, category_series, release_series |
| `category_id required` | Missing required parameter | Provide category_id when browse_type is category_series |
| `release_id required` | Missing required parameter | Provide release_id when browse_type is release_series |
| `Invalid category_id` | Category doesn't exist | Verify category_id or browse to find correct ID |
### Best Practices
<Info>
**Tips for Efficient Browsing:**
- Start broad and narrow down systematically
- Use popularity ordering to find commonly-used series
- Plan navigation path to minimize API calls
- Combine with `fred_search` for targeted discovery
</Info>
## Related Tools
<CardGroup cols={2}>
<Card
title="fred_search"
icon="magnifying-glass"
href="/api-reference/fred-search"
>
Search for specific series by keywords
</Card>
<Card
title="fred_get_series"
icon="chart-line"
href="/api-reference/fred-get-series"
>
Retrieve data for discovered series
</Card>
</CardGroup>
